Dutch news in brief – 18 June 2004

Crown Prince visits troops in Afghanistan

Crown Prince Willem-Alexander has paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan. The agenda of the visit involved meeting Dutch peacekeeping troops and visiting a childcare centre. The Government Information Service (RVD) also said Defence Minister Cees van der Knaap accompanied the prince during the Thursday and Friday visit.

Second suspect arrested over snowball murder

Rotterdam police have arrested a second suspect in connection with the murder of 13-year-olkd Sedar Soares last year. The 20-year-old Rotterdam man was detained on 8 June in Denmark and extradited to the Netherlands, the prosecution said on Friday. Sedar was shot and killed on 1 February 2003 as he threw snowballs with friends at a Rotterdam metro station carpark. Police arrested a 28-year-old man in April. He remains in remand detention.

Parliament informed about secret missions

Defence Minister Henk Kamp and Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner have informed Parliament about Dutch secret military operations abroad over the past four years, Radio Netherlands has reported. The ministers requested the closed session themselves to reassure MPs about the confidential operations. The closed session amid concerns relating to leaked military history details of a Dutch marine implicated in the death of an Iraqi looter in December last year.

Dutch-German Euro 2004 drew 10.6 million fans

Some 10.6 million people watched the Euro 2004 soccer match between the Netherlands and Germany on Tuesday, making it the best-watched Dutch-German grudge match ever. But public broadcast ratings agency Kijk- en Luisteronderzoek (KLO) said the best watched Dutch football match was the1998 World Cup match between the Netherlands and Brazil when 11.7 million viewers tuned in. KLO said 8.2 million watched the match on TV, 1.5 million watched it with friends, 600,000 looked on from cafes and 300,000 watched from work or elsewhere. Ratings agency KijkOnderzoek (SKO) said earlier this week that 7.5 million watched the duel on TV.

Woman claims man’s ashes in court

An Amstelveen woman started legal action in the Arnhem Court on Friday demanding the urn containing the ashes of her deceased friend. The woman claims that 10 days before his death, the man drew up a codicil indicating that he did not want his family to obtain his ashes. She claims the man wanted to be processed into a diamond. The urn has been stored at the Westgaarde crematorium in Amsterdam for the past couple of months. The court will make its ruling on 2 July.
 
[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Dutch news